Life Support
by RiverMonster2014
Summary: After the incident that left Detective Jane Rizzoli in a coma Doctor Maura Isles finds herself having to cope with life without her best friend, partner and wife. Maura, Frost and Korsak remain on the case of a brutal killer with a new detective. All the while holding onto a thread of hope that Jane will wake up. JaneXMaura. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so here it is. I was hesitant to upload this but I've finally decided to do so. I really like how this is starting out and I hope you think so too. So thank you for reading, please tell me what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 1: Jane

_Present Day…._

Maura walked down the blinding white hallway of the hospital to room 316. Her expression was pained, not from any physical aliment but from an emotional one from spending nearly every day sitting next to that hospital bed. She was alone today none of the detectives had offered to come with her, not because they didn't want to but because things had suddenly picked up and they were busy chasing down leads. Maura hoped that the leads would bring them closer to finding the man who did this.

She held her breath as she pushed open the door to the hospital room hoping beyond all hope that today she would find the woman that lay still wide awake. When she finally crossed the room to sit by her longtime friend her heart sank a little, there was still no change. Not that she expected there to be, not with the condition her friend was in. The only constant thing was the steady beeping of the heart monitor off to the left side of the bed. Maura did what she always did when she came to visit; she pulled the plastic chair close to the bed and took her friends hand in her own before lightly kissing her cheek.

"Jane… I'm here Jane," she said softly.

Jane didn't respond at all to Maura's voice, she hadn't responded to anything since she had first ended up in a coma nearly a month ago. Maura always ended up in tears as she waited for Jane to respond in some way to her presence, whether it be Jane squeezing her hand or a low moan. But all Maura was ever greeted with was the heart monitor. It was always easier when someone else was here with her like Angela, Korsak, Frost or even Zach; they at least were someone who would respond to her. Maura knew that a person in a coma could sometimes hear everything going on around them and would be aware of it, but with Jane she never knew she could only hope Jane was able to hear her it was the only comfort she had.

"Korsak and Frost wanted to visit you today sweetie… but something came up, they're following a lead that will bring them closer to the end of this case… They said they would bring a stop to this guy for you no matter how long it takes them… Angela came by the other day to check on me; she's just as worried about me being alright as I am worried about you being alright… I promise I'm managing at home, but I need you to wake up Jane it just isn't the same without you there next to me every night. Remember that detective I was telling you about? Zachary? He's a lot like you, driven and dedicated. He spends a lot of time here with you for some reason…"

Maura trailed off suddenly self-conscious as if someone else was listening to her. But of course when she turned to see if anyone had come in no one else was there. She sighed to herself before pulling her chair closer to the bed so she could rest her head on her arm. Maybe she was hoping someone (like a doctor) would come in and tell her Jane would come out of it soon, which was what the concerned partner side of her was thinking. But the doctor part of her knew that that was highly unlikely and that Jane's condition would remain the same for a while. Maura's phone rang pulling her from her grim mood, the ID read Zach.

"Hey Dr. Isles sorry to pull you away from the wife but we got a crime scene for you," Zach's upbeat voice came through the receiver.

"I'll be right there," Maura told him. "Tell Korsak and Frost to wait for me to get there, no one touches the body."

"You got it boss, see you in a few," Zach hung up.

Maura dropped her phone back into her bag before kissing Jane's cheek again. She really didn't want to leave but she had to.

"I'll be back in a little sweetheart..." Maura said as she released Jane's hand. "I love you Jane."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_60 days before the incident…_

Jane hooked two fingers around the handle on the precincts door trying to open it with a coffee in on hand and a bagel in the other. Maura had left an hour earlier to finish up a preliminary autopsy report on a body from another precincts unit. Jane wasn't real sure why the body had been brought to Maura's attention that precinct had their own ME assigned, by Maura herself no less. She shook her head as she walked up to the guard for security check and somehow she managed to flash her badge without dropping any of her breakfast. For the first time in weeks the elevator wasn't over crowded with uniformed officers, detectives from different units, or just suits that happen to be around, today it was only her.

Up in brick things were no different, things were slow and only four detectives were there including Jane herself. Korsak and Frost sat working on some security footage from an apartment complex that the latest victim of a serial killer had shown up. The media (thanks to random luck of some kind) hadn't caught wind of the new killer so had yet to dub him with any name. We were beyond lucky at this point, another serial killer in Boston would cause a panic, and that was one thing we didn't think we could handle.

"You guys find anything?" she asked taking a large bite out of her bagel.

"There's a man who entered the building around the time Dr. Isles placed the victims time of death and he exits the building about an hour later but he keeps his face out of view of the camera," Frost replied rubbing his eyes.

"So we can't run facial recognition then," she sighed.

"I can try but the best I could do is maybe a 45% match and we all know that isn't enough to make an arrest," Frost informed me.

"Crime scene guys didn't lift any prints besides the victims either," Korsak chimed in. "And Suzie got the results back from the substance you found near the victim it was printer ink."

"That doesn't really help us does it?" I asked almost sarcastically.

"No it doesn't," Korsak agreed. "We can match it to certain printers but there isn't much of a chance we'll find who it came from. Dr. Isles hasn't found anything useful either."

Taking a large sip of coffee Jane sighed and asked, "Who the hell is this guy?" Korsak and Frost both shook their head not having an answer for her either. Jane sat down in a chair adjacent to Frost and watched as he froze the frame that had the most exposure on the man's face for he could try for facial recognition which wouldn't give them much but maybe whoever it lead them to (if anyone) would give them the start they needed. The processor revved up as face by face in the database was compared to the still leaving the three detectives to sit and wait until they got some type of match. It could take hours or days to even get a slight match.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_Present Day…_

Maura pulled her blue Prius to a stop at the curb of the address Zach had sent her. Police cruisers and the ME van encompassed the area surrounding the home, keeping interested pedestrians and the media back. She was greeted at the edge of the yellow tape by Zach's wide grin. Somehow even though he was dealing with death he managed a smile even in the worst possible situations. Zach lifted up the tape for Maura and walked with her towards the front door of the house. He was tall, muscular and definitely in shape, his hair was short and brown and his eyes were a vivid green something that wasn't very common to come across. To the team he was pretty much a mystery except for the fact he came from Kentucky in the Lexington area and had no living relatives. He had an exemplary background in the police force with hundreds of cases solved under his belt and not a single reprimand. Maura found his presence comforting but he was no Jane.

"Sorry again to pull you away from the hospital doc," he apologized. "But it looks like the Ripper has claimed his eighth victim."

"If you don't catch him soon we'll have a mass hysteria on our hands," Maura sighed.

"Don't we know it," Zach agreed. "The damn media vultures aren't helping at all either."

"How bad is this one?" she asked, passing a crime scene tech.

"Pretty damn bad," Zach replied. "Lot of people lost their breakfast today. Korsak, Frost doc's here."

The older of the two detectives, Korsak, with grey hair looked up at Maura, offering a small smile before straitening up and walking over to her. Frost followed behind him, looking as green as a person could get. He had never been very good around dead bodies, especially during an autopsy, but this was the first time Maura saw him this sickly looking at a crime scene.

"Hey doc," Frost greeted her. "It's bad in there."

"Cavanaugh is going to have a hell of a time keeping this out of the media," Korsak told Maura. "It's one of the worst scenes I've been on."

"Let's just get to work," Maura had no doubt this scene would cause some trauma to her after the incident but she had to remain focused.

Maura realized Korsak hadn't been wrong when she walking into the room where the DB was. She had seen hundreds of crime scenes in her career, some with dead bodies and some with survivors barely hanging on, but this was definitely one of the worst. For a moment she paused to close her eyes and take a deep breath, she had to work the scene like she had done hundreds of times before. She collected herself and kneeled down next to the body to examine it. There was no doubt in her mind this was the Ripper. The victim (a young male) had been tortured with a knife among other instruments before his neck had been broken. Maura shook her head, she was making assumptions again an autopsy was needed to prove cause of death as well as the instruments used in the torture. Jane seemed to be rubbing off on Maura more and more everyday she remained in the coma.

"How's Jane doing Dr. Isles?" Frost asked keeping his distance from her and the body.

"She's hanging in there…" Maura replied with a sigh.

"Any change in her condition?" Frost continued.

"No," Maura said shortly. "But it's better to have no change then a bad change so we can't give up hope she'll wake up soon."

Frost nodded even though he knew Maura wasn't looking at him. Jane had been his partner for nearly three years and over those three years they'd grown to be good friends. He hated seeing her lying there completely still in the hospital bed, unaware of the happenings outside that room (if she was even aware to those either). After the incident Zach had been brought in from Kentucky in order to bring in more man power and give Frost a temporary partner until Jane made a full recovery. Frost liked Zach just fine, he was a hard worker and was basically another Jane, the only problem was Zach wasn't Jane and he never would be. And then there was always the possibility that Jane would never wake up. Frost hated that just as much because he was worried about Maura. He had been Jane's best man at her and Maura's wedding and he knew the two were happy together. Jane staying comatose for God knows how long would put Maura in the position of deciding whether or not she wanted to wait just hoping Jane may wake up or if she would move on. Frost didn't want to see that happen.

"Dr. Isles what do you think caused these ligature marks around his neck?" Zach asked standing behind Maura, pointing at a thick black and blue mark on the victim's neck.

"It's too early for me to give you an answer," she said. "But I will say it's too thick to be wire, so perhaps some type of rope, maybe a belt."

"You're starting to guess Dr. Isles," Korsak said looking up from his notes.

"I'm not guessing," Maura defended herself as she moved the victims head slightly. "I was simply giving my educated opinion."

"Uh huh, sure," Zach laughed backing away from Maura.

"I want to get the body back to the morgue and start the autopsy as soon as I can," Maura said, not feeling like laughing.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_60 days before the incident…_

Jane had seen a lot of blood in her years as a detective; she'd seen a lot of crime scenes and a lot of dead bodies. Never before had she seen such cruelty inflicted on one person, it was sickening. The victim was missing part of his ear; there was a deep gash on his face splitting open his lip, abrasions on his legs from being dragged or throw on the ground. There was a hell of a lot more but Jane couldn't stomach it right now the coffee she had for breakfast was churning in her stomach. The smell of decomp wasn't helping her keep down her caffeinated breakfast either. When she was first in the homicide department she had lost her lunch only once before she learned how to handle it, she wasn't about to lose it again, not when she had been here for that long.

"How long to you say he's been here Maura?" Jane asked crossing the room.

"Judging by the rate of decomp I would put time of death around two to three days ago," Maura replied.

"I know you hate guessing but how much to you think he suffered?" Jane already knew the answer; this man had gone through unimaginable pain before he finally lost his life.

"He suffered a lot Jane," even Maura didn't want to say it. "Cause of death was most likely a broken neck but I won't know for sure until I get him back to the morgue."

"Anything else you can tell me here?" Jane asked.

"He was stabbed multiple times, part of his ear was removed, he might have been strangled…" Maura shook her head. "Let me do an autopsy and I'll have more answers for you Jane."

"Hope it gives us more answers then questions," Jane said heaving a sigh. "I'll have them transport the body back you can ride back with me Korsak and Frost have this handled."

Jane and Maura stood over the body of the victim that lay on the slab. Maura had concluded her preliminary examination and had determined the victim had been stabbed twenty times but never bled out, the part of his ear had been removed by something with a serrated edge, and the gash on his face was jagged and wasn't caused by a sharp blade. She was also positive that the cause of death was caused by the victim's neck being snapped.

"The media is going to have a field day with this," Jane said shaking her head. "They'll tell everyone Boston has another serial killer on their hands."

"I hate to say it but we probably do Jane," Maura said as she started the Y-incision. "Someone with this brutality doesn't stop until someone stops him."

"Then we better catch him," Jane declared. "We don't need another Hoyt on our hands."

"Jane this guy is worse than Hoyt already," Maura hated to admit it but that's how she felt. "What kind of monster would do this to a person?"

Jane didn't have an answer, but she wished she did. It was easy for her to tell that Maura was scared. It was unlikely that this killer would come after Jane, but they didn't know the victimology they had no idea if he was brave (or stupid) enough to go after a cop. Jane felt certain that they would catch him before it escalated to that, he was very sloppy so they had a chance to get him after just one murder. But Jane didn't want to give Maura any false hope.

"A sick one Maura…" Jane's voice was low, uncertain.

"Be careful on this case Jane," Maura said suddenly after a brief silence. "I'm not about to lose you."

"You won't," Jane offered a smile. "We'll get this guy, promise."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_Present day…_

Maura used the forceps to remove a fiber off the victims hand and placed it in an evidence bag tagging it for processing later. She was meticulous about the preliminary examination, not wanting to miss a thing and risk having it destroyed she made sure she looked over every inch before moving onto the autopsy. Finally satisfied she had collected every shred of evidence left on the body she took note of the injuries, wanting to take casts on the puncture wounds so they would have something to compare a weapon to later on. It would set fairly quick but she had five different instruments used to torture him with. She had already concluded that all of the puncture wounds had been caused ante-mortem along with the ligature around the throat. The broken neck had been the cause of death. But as Maura was examining the ligature marks waiting for the molds to dry she noticed something odd about the victims mouth, the cheeks were slightly puffed out as if swollen. She placed on hand on the man's chin and the other on his nose and opened his mouth. Inside was a large amount of blood that somehow never made its way out of the man's lips during his death or on the transport to the morgue. But what disturbed her wasn't the blood- it was what had caused the mass amount of blood.

Maura tore off her latex gloves and her surgical apron and ran to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly feeling no patients as she waited for the metal doors to finally slide open. When they finally did she stepped in and slammed her finger on the floor the homicide department was housed on. This information wouldn't do the detectives much good but Maura knew how sometimes when interrogating a suspect they would sometimes slip up and give information that wasn't released to the media or the detectives never mentioned. What Maura had found would give them something at least if they needed it. But even though it would give them an upper hand it was a disgusting detail and Maura felt sick to her stomach. She had never seen anything like that done to a person before.

Zachary saw Dr. Isles making a fast pace towards the three detectives desks before Korsak and Frost even noticed. Knowing he had case files on his temporary desk that she wouldn't want to see he quickly slid them underneath a newspaper and a couple magazines he just happened to have laying around. He wondered what had gotten the doctor out of her whole and upstairs, and why exactly she was walking towards them looking like she was going to strangle one of them. Zach, being the gentleman he was, stood up and greeted Dr. Isles like he had always grown to do, but instead of greeting him back she dropped her hands down hard on Korsak's desk, causing him to jump slightly. Zach wanted to know what she found, because it was obvious she had found something to get her going like this, so he walked over so he stood next to Korsak.

"You find something Dr. Isles?" Zach asked trying to read her expression.

"Yes, I did," she replied.

"That's good we need something to get us on the right track," Frost said, but his celebration was premature.

"No it's not that kind of help," Maura said grimly. "While I was preforming my preliminary examination I noticed something in the victim's mouth. When I went to examine the cause of the swelling I found blood in his mouth, and a lot of it."

"What caused that amount of blood in his mouth?" Korsak asked. "Hard blow to his face?"

"There was no bruising to indicate he was punched in the face," Maura replied. "Upon farther examination I found that our victim's tongue had been removed ante-mortem…"

"The Ripper removed his tongue?" Zach's response was in pure disgust. "What the fuck is wrong with this guy?"

"Great…" Korsak muttered. "Talk about heat being put on us now. We're fucking screwed if the media gets ahold of this."

"Who's going to tell Cavanaugh?" Frost asked shooting a glance at Cavanaugh office. "He won't be very happy."

"I'll tell him," Maura said. "It's my job anyway…"

There was a momentary silence before Maura spoke again, "I'm going to visit Jane later tonight, would any of you like to come with me?"

"You know I would Dr. Isles but I'm probably not going to get out of here until late," Korsak told her. "I was planning on going out tomorrow before I came in."

"I'll probably be stuck here with Korsak too," Frost said. "Sorry Maura."

"I can go for a little as long as Korsak and Frost don't need me," Zach chimed in. "I know I don't know Jane real well but I'd still like to visit again."

"Thanks Zach that means a lot," Maura said managing a smile.

Zach had left almost an hour ago but Maura still sat by her wife's bedside, holding Jane's hand in one of hers and with the other Maura caressed Jane's cheek. Maura had cried hundreds of times in the past month Jane had been in a coma, this time was one of those times she knew she would break down again but she wanted to refrain from it as long as possible. She had been saying meaningless things for most of the time she was here, telling Jane how she was doing and what was happening at home, much like she did earlier that day, but she needed to talk about the case. She needed to let Jane know what was happening even though it wouldn't matter.

"Jane, sweetheart I need you to listen to me… The Ripper claimed another victim the scene was just as gruesome as the others but this time he did something different… he's escalating Jane... he removed the victims tongue, no telling what he'll do next…"

Maura felt the words catch in her throat and tears welling up in her eyes but the continued.

"I'm worried Jane that we won't arrest him in time… and I'm scared that if he ever feels trapped that he might go after one of us. We need you Jane but you have to wake up. Please I need you now more than ever. I need to wake up to your smile in the morning, feel your hot touch again... Please Jane wake up…"

Maura had hot tears streaming down her face as she finished speaking. She needed Jane so badly to wake up and hold her, to tell her everything would be alright, but it wasn't about to happen and Maura knew that. Jane would want her to stay strong to fight through it and bring the sonofabitch down for her. Maura wasn't so sure she would be able to do that. Not with the love of her life, her rock, in this condition. She cried harder into Jane's arm. She had no idea what to do.

"I love you Jane… I love you so much…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took so long for the update, so much stuff has been going on lately. Hopefully this was worth the wait. It shouldn't take me as long to do the next chapter. I apologize in advance if it does. Well thank you for your patience and reading. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Heat

_Present day…_

Maura had only been this stressed one other time in her life and that was her wedding day. This time it was with the case and Jane's condition and as of now it didn't seem to have a happy ending as an option. She twisted her wedding ring on her finger as she thought about the last victim and how his tongue had been removed. It had been the first time the Ripper had removed an entire body part. There had been once when he removed part of an ear but it had been found a few feet away from the body, not completely missing. It made Maura's stomach churn thinking of the possibilities of what could have been done with the tongue. She just needed to help the detectives arrest the Ripper and then take a much needed vacation which would consist of sitting next to Jane's bedside waiting for her to wake up. Maura glanced at the picture of her and Jane taken one night at the Robber, both were smiling and Jane had her arms around Maura's waist.

"What would you do Jane…?" Maura muttered to herself shaking her head slightly.

She groaned and fell back into her seat as she ran her hands through her hair. The only way to catch the Ripper was to see things from Jane's point of view. Jane had been so close to getting the Rippers identity when the incident took place, Maura knew almost everything but she wasn't Jane. So Maura would just have to put herself in Jane's shoes for once think like Jane thought, and as much as she hated the idea Maura knew she would have to take Jane's advice and listen to her gut; even though she detested listening to her intestines. But suddenly Maura knew what she had to do. Jane kept all her notes and files in her desk upstairs under lock and key and Maura had the key. Quickly she dug it out of her desk drawer and made her way to the elevator hoping Jane had left something of some use to them in her desk.

Zach yawned and leaned father back in his chair trying to think of what to make of the escalation of removing the man's tongue. He had dealt with killers like the Boston Ripper before during his career as a homicide detective back in Kentucky, but he had never seen a man's tongue removed. It didn't scare him at all that this killer was brutal and would most likely do anything to evade arrest. He had been put in extremely dangerous with killers before, this was nothing different he just needed to keep his guard up, so did the other detectives and Dr. Isles. Something about the case was bothering him, something he felt he was missing but he had no idea what it was he had been fully briefed when he arrived a month ago. Zach bit on his thumb nail as he stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out what wasn't adding up to him.

A sudden loud bang from across the room made Zach lose his balance in the chair and sent him crashing to the floor with a loud thud; his head connected with the wall behind him sending a wave of pain down his back. A small groan escaped his lips as he rolled over so he was sitting up on his knees. He glanced over towards the source of the noise from over the top of his desk and saw Maura digging through the drawers in Detective Rizzoli's desk. Zach knew that before the incident Jane had locked her desk up tight, for some unknown reason, so how was Dr. Isles able to get into it. _Maybe she can pick locks?_ Zach thought but immediately dismissed it; Dr. Isles was married to Detective Rizzoli so it was likely Rizzoli and just given Dr. Isles a key.

Maura let out a breath of frustration; Jane's desk was a mess inside and out. Everything had been left the same since she had been in the hospital, nothing had been touched. Case files still lay untouched from the last time she had sat there and inside the desk papers were unorganized and some had little or no meaning just miniscule things Jane had collected in the drawer. Maura couldn't understand how Jane could work like this, or how she managed to stay on top of things, but Jane was Jane and had her way of doing things Maura wasn't going to mess with that.

"Excuse me Dr. Isles? Is there something I can help you with?" Zach's voice behind her made Maura jump, she hadn't realized he was there she thought he was with Korsak and Frost.

"God Zach you scared me," Maura exclaimed pressing her hand to her chest trying to slow her breathing. "I thought you had gone with Korsak and Frost back to the crime scene."

"No I stayed back to go over your autopsy report," Zach said pointing to his desk. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was looking for something of Jane's but I can't find anything in this mess," Maura explained. "Are you feeling okay?"

Zach hadn't noticed he had been rubbing the back of his head where he had hit it against the wall when he had nearly jumped out of his skin after the drawer slammed in the deathly silent office.

"Yeah when you slammed the drawer I fell back in my chair," he replied. "I hadn't realized you had come up."

"I'm sorry I really wasn't paying attention to anything," Maura apologized. "If you go down to my office I have aspirin in my desk, top drawer. I suggest you take three to avoid a headache."

"Alright I'll go take some aspirin then thanks Dr. Isles," Zach said smiling. "I hope you find what you're looking for, if not I can help you look."

Maura thanked him as he headed out the door to the office then she turned her attention immediately back to digging through Jane's desk for something on the Ripper case. She knew that Jane had kept separate notes somewhere; gut feelings that she would either confirm later on, Jane had a way of always being right about things even without any evidence. Maura both hated and loved that about Jane.

"Come on Jane where did you put your notes…" Maura muttered to herself.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_45 days before the accident…_

Jane yawned as she continued to write down notes in a small notebook. These notes were he personal notes on the case and had nothing to do with what went into her report. The department didn't like guesses to be listed in an official report. She had notebooks from her first years in homicide about different cases she had been on; she did it to keep her thoughts in order when she was on high stress cases. This Boston Ripper case would definitely qualify as high stress since the department not only had to worry about an unpredictable killer who showed no mercy in his crimes but also about keeping the media out of the case to ensure that a massive panic didn't break out among Boston citizens.

Rubbing her eyes and refocusing on the page in front of her Jane finished her thought; _**Ripper must have killed before somewhere else, no way to track down without a name or some help from other precincts in other states. So far no way of getting ahold of case records. Bunch of shit getting tired of how chain of command works sometimes.**_

Jane dropped her pencil in the cup sitting next to her and Maura's wedding photo before she shut the notebook, stuffing it under a pile of files in the bottom drawer of her desk before locking it. She only locked it because she didn't want some nosey detective that didn't belong up here, let alone in her desk, finding her notes and claiming she had a conspiracy theory of some kind. The last thing Jane wanted was to have a run in with Internal Affairs again, arrogant bastards. She pushed herself away from her desk and headed towards the elevators she needed to talk to Maura. Jane twisted the wedding band on her left ring finger as she waited for the elevator to descend to the morgue. Cases like this made her worry about Maura and hers safety. Jane had firsthand experience with killers who felt they were smarter than the cops. It had nearly gotten her killed three times, Charles Hoyt was her boogeyman and even though he was dead he still haunted her, and she had scars to remind her of the ordeal every moment of every day. The stakes had grown higher when she and her best friend got married, if either of them ever got hurt they would lose much more than a best friend and partner.

She exited the elevator and headed towards Maura's office. As usual the doctor was sitting at her desk reviewing autopsy reports and every so often tapping away at the keyboard to her computer. Jane knocked softly on the open door to warn Maura of her presence. Maura looked up, saw her wife standing there and quickly stood up inviting Jane in before closing the door behind her. Maura took Jane's hand and lead her over to the couch that sat across from her desk, the two sat down next to each other. Jane took her hand from Maura's and placed it on Maura's leg giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"I just needed to see you," Jane confessed. "I needed professional reassurance that we'll get this Ripper."

"I'm a doctor Jane, not a psychiatrist," Maura said smiling. "But you always get the bad guy, so I know you'll get the Ripper."

"You're so reassuring Maura," Jane said rolling her eyes. "I also came down to ask if you have anything for me. Results of any kind, something we missed on the body maybe?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is absolutely nothing on the body that will help you at all," Maura told her. "I wish I had better news for you Jane."

"That's alright I really didn't expect much," Jane admitted. "I just thought I might as well ask."

"This Ripper is messy Jane," Maura reminded her. "Sooner or later he's going to make a mistake and lead us right to him."

"As long as you can keep that objective look on the case I have no reason to argue," Jane said shaking her head. "Here do me a favor and hold onto my extra desk key."

Jane pulled the key out of her pocket and handed it to Maura, who gave her an unsure and confused look. It wasn't like Jane to let someone have access to her desk unless it was a senior officer.

"Why do you want me to hold it?" Maura asked. "Shouldn't you let Korsak or Frost hold onto it?"

"Probably, but I want you to hold onto it," Jane replied. "Insurance just in case something happens."

Maura nodded even though she really didn't understand what Jane was talking about. Anything Jane had on her cases was in the file or in her case notes she kept on her desk. If Jane was handing her a key to her desk it was because she was worried about the case and had no idea what else to do. Maura didn't argue. Jane took it as her time to leave.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_Present day…_

Maura had found what she had been looking for in Jane's desk no more than twenty minutes ago. Now she just sat in her office trying to figure out whether or not to read through Jane's notes or not. Maura knew everything about the case, as a medical examiner she had every right to information on the case as the detectives did, but this was different. These were Jane's personal notes and even though Jane had handed Maura the key and told her it was insurance in case anything were to happen. Something had happened… Jane was no longer on active duty, she was in a coma. Maura bit her lip and opened the notebook.

Korsak's heavy fist fell on the door repeatedly as he shouted for the residents of the house to open the door. No one responded. Frost and Korsak both drew their pistols; Korsak moving to stand beside the door, Frost moving in front of the door ready to kick it down if no one answered.

"Boston Police open up!" Korsak shouted for the last time.

They heard footsteps, glass breaking and something else they couldn't make out. Korsak nodded giving Frost the order to kick down the door. They stormed in guns raised shouting at the top of their lungs as the suspect tried to run. A uniformed officer who had been with them radioed for backup as he assisted the two detectives in chasing down the suspect. Korsak fell behind Frost as they ran into the back yard in hot pursuit. Frost being the youngest of all three took the lead, holstered his gun and took the risk off tackling the suspect. The two of them went down hard on the grass, Frost on top of the man, rolling once before coming to a stop. Frost wrestled with the man in attempt to get his arms behind his back so he could cuff him. Second later Korsak and the officer were over top of them lending Frost a hand. Frost forcefully pulled the suspect to his feet shoving him ahead of them to take him back to the cruiser.

"Why'd you have to run?" Korsak asked out of breath from his short exertion. "We always get the ones who run."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Frost asked. "I was the one chasing him down and tackling him."

"I was right behind you," Korsak defended himself.

"Yeah sure you were," Frost laughed.

"Would you both shut up," the suspect spoke up. "You're both fucking annoying…"

"Look who's talking," the uniformed officer said. "You're under arrest for evading arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you…"

Korsak and Frost were already back in their car as the officer finished reading the suspect his rights. They had come here just to talk to the man that a source had led them too (of course without a name they still had to ID him) and instead had ended up with a runner. In this case it was suspicious until proven otherwise for the first time in months they seemed to have a possible solid lead. They both knew that would be something Maura would like to hear, and Jane too if she could even understand them in her condition.

Zachary stood in the café in the downstairs lobby of the precinct waiting for Korsak and Frost to get back from talking to a possible lead they had called him about. He had been there for a while after Dr. Isles had scared him to death upstairs in the office. For most of the time he had been sipping on stale coffee and talking to Mrs. Rizzoli, Detective Rizzoli's mother. He had made it a point to get to know her since he was standing in for her daughter who remained in a coma. Mrs. Rizzoli seemed to appreciate the company most of the time from him even though she still had Korsak, Frost and Dr. Isles always checking in on her. Zach had noticed that Mrs. Rizzoli and Dr. Isles were close, and not just because Dr. Isles was her daughter-in-law but Mrs. Rizzoli and Dr. Isles had a certain bond that most likely came from Detective Rizzoli and her relationship as friends.

He was extremely bored since he had stayed back to finish some paper work instead of going with the other two detectives. And since Dr. Isles had been rather secretive about what she had pulled out of Detective Rizzoli's desk he had nothing he needed to talk to her about. He could have gone and looked for anything else that could have given them a lead but he didn't know what more to do. Or he could have gone to visit Detective Rizzoli but he hated going without one of her old partners or without Dr. Isles. He didn't know Jane at all; it seemed strange he would visit her on his own, so he didn't. Zach sighed and went back to drinking his coffee and watching for the two detectives to return.

Korsak and Frost followed behind the uniformed officer as he led the suspect into the main lobby of the station. Just as the two got inside the door they both saw Zach sitting there alone drinking a cup of coffee. Korsak whistled to get his attention.

"Zach lets go, interrogation," Korsak shouted over the noise of the rest of the lobby.

Zach looked up and saw Frost and Korsak following behind a uniform who was leading a man in cuffs. He jumped up from the table, grabbing his coffee and jogged over to the other two detectives. Apparently the person they went to talk too had ended up giving them a lead, or at least that's what Zach hoped. He was tired of chasing down dead ends. All that really mattered was that the Boston Ripper was taken down and brought to justice. Zach wouldn't rest until the Ripper was behind bars and waiting for the death sentence. That's all he wanted, the Ripper to be put to death. It was a strong feeling but he hated what the Ripper had done to his victims.

"Is this the guy who someone called in about?" Zach asked as he tried to match pace with the two detectives.

"Sure is," Frost replied. "Our friend here tried to run. It seems like he's a little guilty if you ask me."

"I didn't do anything," the suspect shouted from in front of them. "You can't prove anything."

"You keep telling yourself that," Korsak told him.

The man who had run had been identified as 38 year old Bryan Holderman, a small time thief who had served a stint in prison for assault when a small job went wrong. Now he sat across the table from the three detectives, waiting for them to interrogate him. It had been stupid to run be he had thought it was his parole officer and he had wanted to get out of dodge before he was caught with drugs in his possession; he had earlier learned that saying they weren't his, that he was just holding them, got him thrown in a prison cell before being released on some sort of technicality. Holderman was intimidated by the detective leaning against the wall, a well-fit guy who hadn't been there when Holderman had been arrested. He assumed his name was Zach since the others had shouted for a Zach to come help with the interrogation.

The three detectives had a tactic, which was to build up the tension with the suspect by not speaking. Zach seemed to have a way of intimidating people into talking without having to do much of anything. He stood against the wall with his arms crossed, looking between Korsak and Frost and every-so-often Bryan Holderman. It was easy to see that Holderman was already getting nervous with Zach in the room. Zach found it very helpful when breaking a tough suspect, although there had been one man he couldn't break and it weighed heavily on him. He shook the thought away and waited for Korsak to start on Holderman.

"Alright Mr. Holderman I'm sure you understand how things look right now for you. Trying to evade arrest and having illegal possession of drugs."

"Look officer- detective- whatever, I just can't afford to be thrown in jail again," Holderman defended himself. "I wasn't thinking I just didn't want to deal with the fucking police again. I didn't know you were homicide."

"Should have thought of that before you were arrested the first time Bryan," Frost told him. "Anything you say from here on out will be questioned because of your actions."

"Right now Bryan you're looking good for murder," Zach said. "There's a big difference between jail time for an assault and jail time for murder. 25 to life Bryan and the fact these homicides were so gruesome you could be looking at the death penalty."

"Whoa slow down there buddy," Holderman cried. "I didn't murder anyone you're fucking insane."

"Well maybe you can help yourself out here," Korsak said. "We have a few questions for you; if you help us out we can make the drug charges go away."

Bryan Holderman looked at each one of the detectives; he was starting to get anxious. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead as he shook his head and leaned forward into the table.

"Okay… if you can drop the drug charges…" Holderman conceded. "I'll answer your questions."

"That's probably the best decision you've made all day," Zach said smiling.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_30 days before the accident…_

Jane lay stretched out on the couch, unconscious after a long day at work. She had had days like this before, having to run after suspects, argue with other officers and have a disagreement with Maura. Sleeping was about the only relief she got, even though she looked completely uncomfortable.

Maura had gotten home from work nearly an hour after Jane had gone home. When she had walked through the front door the first thing she saw was Jane passed out on the couch, both of her boots thrown carelessly on the floor next to her and her feet propped up on the arm of the chair. One arm hung off the side of the couch the other hand placed so her fingers were just barely touching her lip like she had been thinking. Maura sighed as she hung up her coat before moving into the kitchen. She would let Jane sleep while she made dinner for the two of them. But when she opened the refrigerator she found it almost completely empty aside from a few take-out cartons, a few bottles of beer, a jug of milk, a carton of eggs and what looked like left over lasagna. Ever since they had been on the Boston Ripper case Maura hadn't found time to make it out to the store to replenish their refrigerator or pantry of edible food. It looked like once again they would be ordering-out. This was the first case that ever caused Maura to completely forget buying groceries and instead relying almost completely on take-out.

Maura glanced over to the living room were Jane was asleep. Before the two had gotten married, even before they had started dating Maura was completely aware of Jane's habits. They had been working together for years after all and had grown to have a very close friendship. Maura knew Jane would go home and eat whatever she managed to scrounge up, whether it be a box of cereal or a jar of peanut butter. Sometimes she would order-out or someone would bring by food but Jane rarely ever cooked for herself. It was just who she was, Maura knew that. Maura however never did that, she always cooked for herself unless Jane decided to come by with take-out.

Realizing Jane wouldn't wake up any time soon unless Maura, herself, woke her up. Grabbing her cell Maura dialed the number to the Chinese take-out place they ordered from often and placed her order before heading back to the bedroom she and Jane shared. She had relaxed at home since she had married Jane, instead of wearing silk pajamas she now either wore sweatpants and one of Jane's t-shirts or just her underwear and one of Jane's t-shirts. She thought in the case of having to answer the door and pay for dinner she'd better wear sweatpants. Not feeling at all like placing her heels back in her closet she threw them carelessly off to one side of the room before stripping down to her underwear. She then pulled on a pair of Jane's worn sweatpants and one of Jane's precinct t-shirts before she went back out to the living room to wake up Jane.

"Jane sweetie," Maura said kneeling down next to her wife gently shaking her shoulder.

Jane moaned but didn't open her eyes, instead she pulled her one arm that hung off the side of the couch to her up to her chest and rolled slightly away from Maura.

"Jane I know you're awake," Maura rolled her eyes knowing full well Jane was awake and just not wanting to get up.

"No," Jane's voice was muffled as she spoke into the back of the couch.

"Okay Jane, I know you don't talk in your sleep. You snore but you don't talk," Maura couldn't help the smile that broke when Jane reached back to slap her in the arm. "I thought so sweetie. Get up I ordered Chinese take-out again."

"But I'm tired Maur…" Jane groaned into the couch cushion.

"All you do is sleep, get up," Maura ordered.

Jane felt a smirk creep up on her. If Maura wasn't going to let her sleep then Maura was going to have to help Jane wake up. She reached back to grab Maura's wrist and said "Fine if you want me up help me wake up." Maura didn't even know what had happened. One second she was kneeling next to the couch trying to wake Jane up the next somehow Jane had pulled Maura onto the couch and maneuvered herself so she was positioned above Maura.

"Jane what are you doing?" Maura asked out of confusion.

"Guess," Jane replied leaning down to kiss Maura's neck.

"Jane stop I just ordered dinner…" Maura couldn't say much else before Jane's lips pressed against hers.

Jane knew Maura was going to be difficult but Jane knew she had about 45 minutes and 5 of that would be all it took to get her when Jane wanted her. So she ran her hands up Maura's sides up to her shoulders and pressed Maura farther down into the couch. Then Jane pulled away from Maura, looking into her eyes before leaning down and kissing her jawline. Underneath her Jane felt Maura go ridged but it only lasted for a moment, so Jane moved farther down, kissing Maura's neck. But Maura wasn't giving in to Jane just yet.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Jane asked. "You wanted me to get up."

"This isn't what I meant by wake up," Maura told her. "Jane stop."

"No," Jane was short.

Maura had no leverage to stop Jane from pulling off her t-shirt or stop Jane from kissing her. She knew that Jane was trying to get her to a point she couldn't argue, it was how Jane worked when she wanted something, and right now Maura was losing. Maura tried fighting it as Jane's lips pressed against her skin making her feel like she was on fire. Jane's hands run down her sides then back up, cupping her breasts before she started to move down and kiss Maura's chest. Maura couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips; Jane had managed to do it to her once again.

Jane knew immediately that she had gotten Maura where she wanted her. The moan that escaped Maura's lips was enough for Jane to realize that. She smiled to herself now Maura wouldn't argue with her and Jane was now very much awake. Jane moved back up, first kissing Maura's neck, and then her chin before pressing her lips against Maura's kissing her roughly. Maura responded instantly, her hands slid up under Jane's shirt and gripped at her back, pulling Jane as close as possible. With each second passing Maura's heart started to race and she gripped to Jane even more. She needed Jane.

"Jane…" Maura whispered. "I want you…"

Jane smirked and kissed Maura's neck again, knowing she would leave her mark, as her right hand slid down and played with the strings of Maura's sweatpants. Maura moaned and pressed herself up against Jane, she didn't want Jane to tease her. She couldn't take it; it had been weeks before Jane had given her attention like this. Jane could feel it too Maura wasn't about to take any teasing so Jane gave Maura what she wanted. Maura's breath grew rugged as she felt Jane slid her hand under her sweatpants. Jane waited and watched Maura's reaction before she went any farther and when she knew Maura was at the point she would beg for Jane to continue Jane did. Jane was rewarded with a gasp escaping Maura's lips as she thrust her fingers into Maura. The sensation was something Maura had felt multiple times before when Jane made love to her. There was heat, friction, want and need altogether at once. Maura never knew how long she would be able to hold on before Jane pushed her completely over the edge.

"Oh God Jane… don't stop…"

Jane moved rhythmically with Maura as she moved in and out. Already she could feel Maura getting close but Jane had no idea how long it had actually been. Ten minutes maybe? 30? She really didn't care; she just wanted to give Maura what she wanted. Maura's hands came to rest on Jane's neck pulling her down to kiss her then moving Jane to kiss her neck. But Maura ran a hand through Jane's hair pulling on it slightly. It was only moments later when Jane felt Maura reach the edge, and let out another moan. Jane collapsed to one side, kissing Maura's cheek and smiling.

"I love you Dr. Isles," she said.

"I love you to Detective Rizzoli," Maura smiled.


End file.
